Annual Energy Statement

Debate between Angela Smith and Ed Davey

Thursday 31st October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Davey]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. There are many problems with Labour’s energy price freeze. First, it is a con because it will not help consumers. Secondly, it undermines competition. However, worst of all in many ways, it will kill the investment that we need both for green energy and to keep the lights on. People in the energy industry are saying that. The Leader of the Opposition has done one of the most irresponsible things ever done by a Leader of the Opposition.

[Angela Smith (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State has nothing to say today about the Chancellor’s imposition of the carbon floor price, which undermines the competitiveness of our energy-intensive industries, which are crucial to the development of a low-carbon economy. When will the Secretary of State bring urgency to bear before more jobs are lost?

[Mr Davey]

My right hon. Friend the Chancellor produced, some time ago, a £250 million package to help energy-intensive industries—[Interruption.] The hon. Lady should wait. The first part of that package— £113 million—has state aid clearance, and £12.5 million has been paid out after 60 applications were received.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Angela Smith and Ed Davey

Thursday 18th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Mr Edward Davey)]

The Government are keen that banks should behave responsibly towards businesses, charities and social enterprises, and we continue to work with the banks to achieve that. For example, we are working with them to revise the lending code for micro-enterprises and we are publishing lending principles for medium-sized and larger businesses. We will continue to hold banks to account when they act unreasonably, and my officials will raise this matter with RBS.

[Angela Smith (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Lab)]

In a letter that I received this morning from the Secretary of State, I was told that the funding for AgustaWestland

“has been provisionally allocated under the capital budget of the department over the Spending Review period”,

whereas the Sheffield Forgemasters loan was cancelled in June because its funding had been allocated during the current financial year. I thank the right hon. Gentleman for the speediness of his response, but as the Forgemasters loan was the only BIS investment that was dropped in June, why can it not be picked up again and allocated in the period of the forthcoming spending review?